GREAT LAKES: LAKE SUPERIOR. 637 



Marquette. The pound-nets are set iu different parts of Keweeuaw Bay. The seining reaches are 

 in the vicinity of L 'Arise and Portage Entry. 



The yield of the fisheries during 1879 amounted to about 405,000 pounds of fresh fish and 

 about 4,200 half-barrels of salt fish. A considerable proportion was sold at the mines in the vicinity 

 of the fisheries and in inland towns, and the remainder was shipped to Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, 

 Chicago, and Milwaukee, but the exact apportionment of the amount could not be ascertained. 



The fishermen consider that whitefish have decreased appreciably within ten years, and point 

 to sawdust, increased navigation, and overfishing as the causes of the diminution. 



MARQUETTE AND VICINITY. Marquette, the capital of Marquette County, is a small city, and 

 a summer resort of some note. It is situated at the head of a fine harbor. The iron and lumber 

 trades take precedence over the fisheries. 



The number of fishermen at Marquette in 1879 was about thirty-three, twelve of whom were 

 engaged in gill-netting, twelve in seining, and the remainder in the pound fishery. They are of 

 various nationalities, only about one-third being native Americans. There is also one fisherman 

 living at the south end of Grand Island, east of Marquette. 



Pound-net, gill-net, and seine fisheries are all carried on to a greater or less extent in different 

 years. The gill netters fish at different points along about 50 miles of shore east of Marquette, 

 while the pounds are set in sheltered positions in the shallow bays and the mouths of rivers 

 between the town and Grand Island. Seining is prosecuted entirely in Marquette Harbor. Some 

 fishing is also carried on at the trout bank, known as Stanuard's Rock. 



About sixty boxes of gill-nets, or three hundred and sixty nets, were employed in 1879, together 

 with eight pound-nets and four small seines. The gill-net fishermen employ several steam-tugs of 

 the usual model and size. Larger and better boats are used than formerly. 



The catch consists of whitefish, trout, siscowet, herring, and lawyers. The yield in 1879 was 

 about 450,000 pounds, of which enough to make 200 half-barrels was salted and the remainder sold 

 fresh. About 2">,000 pounds of the latter were shipped to Milwaukee, and of the remainder part 

 sold to the steamboat companies and to the miners living in the vicinity aud part sent to inland 

 towns in Wisconsin and Illinois. The shipping business is entirely in the hands of three firms. 



The fish are caught on shares. The dealers furnish outfits, including boats, and take one-half 

 the fish caught as compensation. They also buy the remainder from the fishermen, paying a 

 uniform price of 7 cents apiece. 



Fifteen or twenty years ago trout fishing with hand-lines was the most important branch pros- 

 ecuted, gill-nets being used only for whitefish. Pound-nets were not introduced until 18G9. Seines 

 were in use many years before gill nets were introduced, but they are now fast falling into disuse. 



Some fishermen hold the opinion that there has been a gradual decrease in the abundance of 

 all species, but particularly of whitefish and trout. Others think that this theory is without foun- 

 dation in truth. They say that the spawning grounds are not disturbed, and that spawning or 

 young fish are rarely taken; and claim that the species which appear to have decreased in number 

 have simply moved to inaccessible or undiscovered grounds. 



WHITEFISH POINT AND SAVLT DE SAINTE MARIE. Fishing has been carried on at Whitefish 

 Point for many years, but the fishery did not assume proportions of any magnitude until the year 

 1870, when it was purchased by Messrs. Jones & Trevalle, of Buffalo, 1ST. Y. A pier has been con- 

 structed aud a number of buildings erected. During the fishing season twenty or thirty persons 

 live at the Point, but in winter the place is deserted. Communication with other places is car 

 ried on entirely by water. Steamers stop at the pier, if the weather is sufficiently calm, and 

 take away the fish. 



